It was damp, dark and dreary at Bushy Park in Teddington on Wednesday 5 May. Indeed, at one stage in the late afternoon it looked like a ball wasn't going to be bowled in the last 16 MCCL/ECB T20 clash between near-neighbours Teddington and Twickenham.

Solid batting all the way down
The clouds eventually departed and the rain finally stopped leaving just enough time for a 13 over shoot out. Teddington perhaps surprisingly opted to let the Ts bat in what was always going to be the brightest part of the evening, and Neville Talbot (25 off 13) and Scott Newman (12 off 10) set off at a fair old lick (see here for the card).

The call on the boundary was that anything north of 100 would be a decent total, and even when the openers departed the rate continued at well in excess of a run a ball. Carlos Nunes (18 off 16) and particularly the silky smooth Gurjit Sandhu (21 off 16) played nicely through the middle of the innings, whilst Blake van der Linde (14 before being run out off the last ball) ensured that the Ts finished on an eminently respectable 113.

Mullazahdah and Panesar keep their nerve
Former IPL player Abishek Jhunjhunwala opened the batting for the hosts, and he made it clear he wasn't going down without a flight. A quickfire six was followed by another boundary as he tried to set an upbeat tone. Jhunjhunwala's fun was nonetheless curtailed when Rashid Mullazahdah trapped him leg before. With Tom Elliot also back in the shack that left Teddington on 19-2.

With rain in the air and the light fading, Monty Panesar was thrown the ball to begin his first over as a Twickenham CC player. His first ball was a wide, but with that out of the way Panesar teased a false shot out of the dangerous Josh Knappett as Teddington slipped to 26-3.

Cue heavier rain and the realisation that DLS was going to play an ever more significant role in proceeding. Quite what scorer Aly Vokes made of such challenges is best not recorded here.

The pendulum was to firmly swing in Twickenham's direction when Panesar had Rhythem Bedi caught at long off by Talbot and then Will Greenall very well snaffled by Blake van der Linde at long on. The Ts were firmly in the box seat.

Don Manuwelge and particularly Adam Mather both bowled decent overs as the gloom descended. It was ultimately a sharp bouncer from Mather that saw the umpires decide enough was enough and that unless the light improved then there would be no further play. It didn't and there wasn't. Twickenham were home by 21 runs.

Twickenham now await the winners of Stanmore and Harrow St Mary's in the QF. Before then, Richmond await in the first league game this coming weekend.